<Arnd>In general I do not like abbreviated words as identifier names. My reasoning is that it obfuscates the programmers intention and may imply futile documentation. I don't think that "eval()" obfuscates "evaluate()", but this is obviously just my opinion since "eval()" does appear awkward to you as a replacement for "evaluate()".</Arnd>
The name "evaluate()" makes sense to me. I think names are very important and while abbrevs tend to produce more compact code (an arguable benefit), the cost is maintainability: understanding of produced code for years to come by others.
